Usain Bolt jockeys for attention with Mini Minis

Usain Bolt and the rest of the athletics competitors aren’t the only ones stealing the crowd’s attention at Olympic Park this week.

Amid all the potential questions being asked in the stands in the past few days — such as ”Can Bolt break the record?” and “Is Jessica Ennis single?” — there’s one that has perhaps been more consistently uttered than all the rest: “What the heck are those for?”

Surrounded by pole vaulters, steeple chasers, sprinters and hurdlers, three little cars can be seen streaking across the field. At first, unless you happen to be with the blue bloods and corporate moguls in the front row, it’s hard to tell exactly what they’re doing.

Then, after watching for awhile, it begins to make sense: Ding ding! They’re carrying javelins, hammers and discuses back to the athletes after they toss them. Even to the most jaded automotive reporter, it’s pretty cute.

Globally, the marketing brains behind BMW’s subcompact brand Mini have managed to get plenty of mileage out of the “cute”, and they’ve done it again.

At roughly 25% the size of its bigger sibling, the Mini Mini battery-powered subsubsubcompact vehicle was created, like the full-sized version, by the Mini plant in Oxford.

In London, all three of them are putting in four-hour shifts across nine days for the Olympics and then another nine days for the Paralympic competition.

Of course, BMW’s involvement goes well beyond these remote-control Minis. The German company is the official automotive partner for the Games, with a wide-ranging fleet of vehicles put to use in various capacities across London, including 160 BMW 1Series ActiveE sedans and 40 Mini E subcompacts.

When the Games end, BMW said the Mini Minis “will return to base for well-earned rest and relaxation before their next athletic adventure.”